1548 The Leipzig Interim was adopted at the Diet of Leipzig. The interim, written by Maurice of Saxony, compromised several of the Lutheran beliefs and positions, including those dealing with the doctrine of justification.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leipzig_Interim

1775 Continental navy organized with 7 ships. On December 3, the USS Alfred, USS Andrew, USS Doria, USS Cabot, and USS Columbus. On December 22, 1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed the naval commander-in-chief, and officers of the navy were commissioned (including First Lieutenant John Paul Jones). With this small fleet, complemented by the USS Providence, and USS Wasp, Hopkins led the first major Naval action of the Continental Navy, in early March 1776. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esek_Hopkins

1804 Anglican missionary to Persia Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'I look forward to a day of prayer; for my soul hath great need of quickening and restoration, that it may act more in the view of eternity.' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Martyn

1807 Congress passes Embargo Act, to force peace between Britain & France. This law was passed by Congress and signed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807. It stopped all trade between America and any other country. The goal was to get Britain and France, who were fighting each other at the time, to stop restricting American trade. The plan didn't work and the act ended in 1809.

The Act:laid an embargo on all ships and vessels under U.S. jurisdiction,prevented all ships and vessels from obtaining clearance to undertake in voyages to foreign ports or places,allowed the President of the United States to make exceptions for vessels under his immediate direction,authorized the President to enforce via instructions to revenue officers and the Navy,was not constructed to prevent the departure of any foreign ship or vessel, with or without cargo on board,required a bond or surety from merchant ships on a voyage between U.S. ports, andexempted warships from the embargo provisions.

This shipping embargo was a cumulative addition to the Non-importation Act of 1806 (2 Stat. 379), this earlier act being a "Prohibition of the Importation of certain Goods and Merchandise from the Kingdom of Great Britain"; the prohibited imported goods being defined where their chief value which consists of leather, silk, hemp or flax, tin or brass, wool, glass; in addition paper goods, nails, hats, clothing, and beer.

The Embargo Act of 1807 is codified at 2 Stat. 451 and formally titled "An Embargo laid on Ships and Vessels in the Ports and Harbours of the United States". The bill was drafted at the request of President Thomas Jefferson and subsequently passed by the Tenth U.S. Congress, on December 22, 1807, during Session 1; Chapter 5. Congress initially acted to enforce a bill prohibiting imports, but supplements to the bill eventually banned exports as well. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embargo_Act_of_1807

1839 The second of triple December storms hit the northeastern U.S. The storm produced 25 inches of snow at Gettysburg, PA, and gales in New England, but only produced light snow along the coast. (David Ludlum)

1864 General William T. Sherman sends a Christmas message to President Lincoln. In the course of the march the Union army had seized thousands of horses and mules and freed countless slaves. Sherman calculated damage done at about $100,000,000. His telegram to Lincoln was run in newspapers all over the North and it created a sensation. "I beg to present to you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred fifty heavy guns, also about 25,000 bales of cotton." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_T._Sherman#Atlanta

1870 Charles Augustus Young, an American astronomer, made the first observations of the flash spectrum of the Sun. He was a pioneer in the study of the spectrum of the sun and experimented in photographing solar prominences in full sunlight. On 22 Dec 1870, at the eclipse in Spain, he saw the lines of the solar spectrum all become bright for perhaps a second and a half (the "flash spectrum") and announced the "reversing layer." In his career, he also proved the gaseous nature of the sun's corona. By exploring from the high altitude of Sherman, Wy. (1872), he more than doubled the number of bright lines he had observed in the chromosphere. By a comparison of observations, he concluded that magnetic conditions on the earth respond to solar disturbances.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Augustus_Young

1882 First string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison's associate, Edward H. Johnson. He decorated a Christmas tree at his home. Previously, trees were decorated with wax candles from the early days of the Christmas tree tradition. The first commercially produced Christmas tree lamps were manufactured in strings of nine sockets by the Edison General Electric Co. of Harrison, N.J. and advertised in the Dec 1901 issue of the Ladies' Home Journal. Each socket took a miniature 2 candlepower carbon-filament lamp operating on 32 volts. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree_lights

1885 A U.S. patent for a gravity switchback railway (Roller coaster) was issued to La Marcus Adna Thompson of Coney Island, N.Y. (No. 332,762). In 1884, Thompson, the "Father of the Gravity Ride," opened a 600-ft roller-coaster at Coney Island at 6-mph maximum. Its popularity enabled him to recoup his $1,600 investment in only three weeks. In this patent he described a railway on trestles with two parallel tracks undulating vertically. At the end of the first track, a switch automatically allowed the car to return on the second track. His design in an earlier patent (20 Jan 1885, No. 310,966) needed passengers to temporarily get out of the car at the end of the first track while assistants prepared it to return on the second track.)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_coaster

1894 United States Golf Association is formed (New York, NY) The Amateur Golf Association of the United States - soon to be called the United States Golf Association is formed on Dec. 22. Charter members are Newport Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, The Country Club (Brookline, Mass.), St. Andrew's Golf Club (Yonkers, N.Y.), and Chicago Golf Club. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Golf_Association

1910 The Chicago Union Stock Yards Fire started on December 22, 1910, destroying $400,000 of property and killing twenty-one firemen, including the Fire Marshal James J. Horan. Fifty engine companies and seven hook and ladder companies fought the fire until it was declared extinguished by Chief Seyferlich on December 23. In 2004, a memorial to all Chicago firefighters who have died in the line of duty was erected at the location of the 1910 Stock Yards fire. A larger fire occurred in 1934, which burned almost 90% of the stockyards, including the exchange building, stockyard inn, and the International Livestock Exposition building. This larger fire was seen as far away as Indiana, and caused approximately $6 million worth of damages. While only one watchman was killed, a few cattle also perished, but the yards were in business the following Sunday evening.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Union_Stock_Yards_fire

1915 Federal Baseball League is dissolved. After the 1915 season the owners of the American and National Leagues bought out half of the owners (Pittsburgh, Newark, Buffalo, and Brooklyn) of the Federal League teams. Two Federal League owners were allowed to buy struggling franchises in the established leagues: Phil Ball, owner of the St. Louis Terriers, was allowed to buy the St. Louis Browns of the AL, and Charlie Weeghman, owner of the Chicago Whales, bought the Chicago Cubs. Both owners merged their teams into the established ones. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_League

1920 WEAE, in New York City, aired the first broadcast of a prize fight from ringside. WEAF, in New York City, aired the first broadcast of a prize fight from ringside. The fight was broadcast from Madison Square Garden where Joe Lynch defeated Peter Herman to retain the bantamweight title. Bantamweights top the scales at 118 pounds. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WEAE

1921 The first U.S. commercial radio license assigned to a religious broadcaster was awarded to the National Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C. Within five years, there were over 60 other licensed religious broadcasters, including KJS_Biola (L.A.), KFUO_Concordia Seminary (St. Louis), and WMBI_Moody Bible Institute (Chicago).en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_broadcasting

1924 Thomas A. Edison was issued a U.S. design patent for a "Design for a Phonograph Cabinet." (Design patent No. 69068). In addition to a front and side elevation, the patent showed an enlarged portion of the front elevation showing more clearly the details of one of the panels or grilles. The design patent covers the ornamental design for a phonograph cabinet as shown for a term of 14 years. A design patent protects only the appearance of the article and not structural or utilitarian features.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison

1929: A storm in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana brought 26 inches of snow to Hillsboro, Texas

1937 Lincoln Tunnel (New York, NY) opens to traffic. In 1937, the Lincoln Tunnel in New York opened to traffic, passing 1.5 miles under the Hudson River and connecting Weehawken, N.J., and Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by Othmar H. Ammann, designer of many of the 20th century's greatest bridges including a number in New York. A second tube of the Lincoln Tunnel to the north of the first was opened on 1 Feb 1945, and a third tube was added south of the first on 25 May 1957, making it the world's only three-tube underwater tunnel for vehicles.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Tunnel

1941 Jimmie Lunceford & his orchestra recorded "Blues in the Night" After playing for several years in Cleveland and Buffalo, the band began an important engagement at the Cotton Club, Harlem, in 1934. Two "hot" recordings made in 1934, Jazzmocracy and White Heat, with arrangements by Will Hudson, immediately attracted attention, and by 1935 the group, then called Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra, had achieved a national reputation as an outstanding black swing band. Blues in the Night was recorded for the movie of the same name.

1941 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C. for a series of meetings with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on a unified Anglo-American war strategy and a future peace.

Now that the United States was directly involved in both the Pacific and European wars, it was incumbent upon both Great Britain and America to create and project a unified front. Toward that end, Churchill and Roosevelt created a combined general staff to coordinate military strategy against both Germany and Japan and to draft a future joint invasion of the Continent. Roosevelt also agreed to a radical increase in the U.S. arms production program: the 12,750 operational aircraft to be ready for service by the end of 1943 became 45,000; the proposed 15,450 tanks also became 45,000; and the number of machine guns to be manufactured almost doubled, to 500,000.

Among the momentous results of these U.S.-Anglo meetings was a declaration issued by Churchill and Roosevelt that enjoined 26 signatory nations to use all resources at their disposal to defeat the Axis powers and not sue for a separate peace. This confederation called itself the "United Nations." Lead by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, all 26 nations declared a unified goal to "ensure life, liberty, independence and religious freedom, and to preserve the rights of man and justice." The blueprint for the destruction of fascism and a future international peacekeeping organization was born.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill#Relations_with_the_United_States

Halves of two baseballs, illustrating the composition of the balls. On the left, a traditional cork-centered ball, and on the right, a rubber-centered ball used during World War II. The rubber centers, borrowed from golf balls, were used due to wartime material shortages.

American soldiers of the 117th Infantry Regiment, Tennessee National Guard, part of the 30th Infantry Division, move past a destroyed American M5 "Stuart" tank on their march to recapture the town of St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945.

1944 World War II: Battle of the Bulge --German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge

Alvin And The Chipmunks - Christmas Songwww.youtube.com/watch?v=V1B0eIdwFvI1958 The Chipmunks were at the #1 position on the music charts. The Chipmunks (a.k.a. David Seville and the Chipmunks) were a novelty act created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. The Chipmunks made a splash on the charts in the late 1950s with "Witch Doctor" (1958), "The Chipmunk Song" (1958) and "Alvin's Harmonica" (1959), and the Alvin cartoon show premiered on TV in 1961. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_and_the_Chipmunks

1959 Continental League awards its last franchise to Dallas-Fort Worth. The Continental League was a proposed 8-team baseball league which never got off the ground but still had significant impact on baseball. It is generally accepted that Major League Baseball's expansion in 1961-1962 was in direct response to pressure from the Continental League.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_League

1961 Holiday travel was paralyzed over extreme northeastern Kansas, and adjacent parts of Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. The storm produced 5 to 15 inches of snow, with drifts up to ten feet high. (22nd-23rd) (The Weather Channel)

1962 1,000,000th NBA point scored in either Detroit-Chicago, New York-Boston, or Syracuse-San Francisco game.

Astrodome

1962 Harris County voters approve all-weather stadium for Houston Colt .45s. The Astrodome was masterminded by a colorful Houstonian named Judge Roy Hofheinz, who in the early 1960s paid $5 million for 495 acres of swampland 6 miles south of downtown Houston, spent $1.2 million to drain it, and then sold 180 acres to Harris County for $5 million, retaining the remaining 315 acres to develop into the privately-owned complex that today contains a hotel, a convention hall complex, and the Astroworld Amusement park. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrodome

1964 Lockheed SR-71 spy aircraft reaches 2194 mph (record for a jet). The SR-71, unofficially known as the "Blackbird," is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft. The first flight of an SR-71 took place on December 22, 1964, and the first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later, 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California, in January 1966.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird

1965 Director David Lean's " Dr Zhivago" premieres. The movie portraited life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution. The cast included Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, and Alec Guinness. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Zhivago_(film)

1968 Julie Nixon and David Eisenhower, both progeny of United States presidents, tie the knot in New York City. Julie Nixon was the daughter of Richard M. Nixon, who was running for president at the time of the wedding. Her groom was the grandson of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who served as America's 34th president from 1953 to 1961. Julie and David met at the Republican National Convention in San Francisco, California, in 1956 while his grandfather was campaigning for re-election. They were both eight at the time. At the convention, Julie's father was nominated as Eisenhower's running mate. The two were frequently thrown together during Eisenhower's second term and shared the unusual experience of growing up under the spotlight of national politics. They started dating in 1967, when they were both 19.

Author Tabitha Warters, who studied presidential offspring, noted that Julie and David offered Americans the ideal image of a "wholesome, all-American couple" at a time when the nation was undergoing a counter-cultural revolution and traditional family and relationship roles were being challenged. Warters quoted Nixon as describing his daughter and her fiance as "front-line troops in the battle to reestablish...traditional virtues," particularly during his 1968 presidential campaign.

1968 The first U.S. live telecast from a manned spacecraft in outer space was transmitted at 3:01 p.m. from Apollo VIII. The earth appeared as a blurred ball of light. The craft was 139,000 miles from earth, 31-hr 20-min after launch. the previous day. A total of six live television transmission sessions were done by the crew during the mission, including the famous Christmas Eve broadcast in which the astronauts read from the book of Genesis. The crew for the flight was Captain James Lovell, Colonel Frank Borman and Major William Anders. The primary purpose of this mission was to further progress toward the goal of landing men on the Moon by gaining operational experience and testing the Apollo system.

1969 Pete Maravich sets NCAA record of hitting 30 of 31 foul shots. When Peter Press Maravich stepped onto a basketball court, spectators and opponents had to have a carefully trained eye because "Pistol Pete" rarely duplicated the same move twice. Perhaps the greatest creative offensive talent in history, Maravich's offensive repertoire was endless: He could dazzle with Harlem Globetrotter-like dribbling, toss a no-look pass with pinpoint accuracy or sink a fall-away jumper with two defenders draped on him. The basketball court was "Pistol Pete's" personal playground; every night was a show and no one, not even Maravich, knew what scoring records he might shatter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Maravich

1973 "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich topped the charts. Following the success of "Behind Closed Doors," RCA re-released "Tomorrow Night," which reached the Top 30, but it was "The Most Beautiful Girl," the proper follow-up to his first number one single, that established him as a star. "The Most Beautiful Girl" spent three weeks at the top of the country charts and two weeks at the top of the pop charts.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Beautiful_Girl

1974 Phil Esposito, Boston, became 6th NHLer to score 500 goals. Esposito was also the league's top scorer in 1970/71, with an incredible 152 points on 76 goals and 76 assists; in 1971/72, with 133 points on 66 goals and 67 assists; in 1972/73, with 130 points on 55 goals and 75 assists; and in 1973/74, with 145 points on 68 goals and 77 assists. In 1,282 regular season games, he scored 1,590 points on 717 goals and 873 assists. He had 137 points, on 61 goals and 76 assists, in 130 playoff games. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Esposito

1976 "Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God" opens at Lyceum NYC for 429 performances. Conceived and directed by Vinnette Carroll, this is gospel musical about the passion of Jesus Christ. Having premiered on Broadway in 1976, the play is based on the gospel of St. Matthew and is presented through song, sermon and dance. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Arms_Too_Short_to_Box_with_God

1980 Cardinals release outfielder Bobby Bonds. Bonds played sparingly in 1980 and 1981 without much success. He retired in 1981 with 332 career homers, 461 steals, and 1,757 whiffs. His 189 strikeouts in 1970 and 187 K's in 1969 were the top two single-season totals in baseball history when he retired. At the time he left the game, only Willie Stargell and Reggie Jackson had struck out more.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Bonds

1981 London was the scene of a rock ’n’ roll auction where buyers paid $2,000 for a letter of introduction from Buddy Holly to Decca Records.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Holly

1983 On the first day of winter 75 cities reported record low temperatures for the date, with twelve of those cities reporting record low temperatures for the month as a whole. The mercury plunged to 51 degrees below zero at Wisdom MT, and Waco TX set an all-time record low a reading of 12 above zero. (The National Weather Summary)

1987 The first day of winter was a relatively tranquil one for much of the nation, but heralded a winter storm in the Central Rockies. The storm produced 40 inches of snow at the top of the Pomerelle Ski Resort, south of Burley ID, the heaviest snow of record for that location. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1988 Strong winds prevailed in the foothills of Wyoming and Colorado. Winds gusted to 123 mph southwest of Fort Collins CO, and reached 141 mph at the summit of Mount Evans. An ice storm paralyzed parts of Upper Michigan during the day. The freezing rain left roads around Marquette MI blocked by cars and semi- trucks. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1989 A total of 137 cities across the central and eastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date. Thirty-five of those cities established record lows for the month of December. Morning lows of 23 degrees below zero at Kansas City MO, 26 degrees below zero at Concordia KS, and 27 degrees below zero at Goodland KS established all-time records for those three locations. Unofficial morning lows included 50 degrees below zero at Recluse WY and 60 degrees below zero at Rochford SD. Broadus MT and Hardin MT tied for honors as the official cold spot in the nation with morning lows of 47 degrees below zero. Chinook winds at Cutbank MT helped warm the temperature 74 degrees, from a morning low of 34 degrees below zero to an afternoon high of 40 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

1990 Lech Walesa sworn in as Poland's first popularly elected president of Poland since World War II. In September 1980, Mr. Walesa was chosen to be first national chairman of the Solidarity party. This party was outlawed a year later, but Mr. Walesa continued his leadership of the movement until its relegalization in 1989. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa

1992 The Archives of Terror are discovered. The "Archives of Terror" (Archivos del Terror) were found by lawyer and human-rights activist Dr. Martín Almada, and judge José Agustín Fernández, in a police station in a suburb of Asunción (Lambaré), capital of Paraguay. Fernández was looking for files on a former prisoner. Instead, he found archives describing the fates of thousands of Latin Americans who had been secretly kidnapped, tortured, and killed by the security services of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. This was known as Operation Condor.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archives_of_Terror

1999 Two astronauts repair the crippled Hubble Space Telescope. The most crucial task for the astronauts is replacing Hubble's six gyroscopes, four of which have failed due to corroded wires, shutting down the NASA observatory since November 13. Besides replacing the gyroscopes, used to aim the telescope and keep it steady, the crew will install a new data recorder, radio transmitter, fine guidance sensor and battery-voltage regulators.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope

2001 Richard Reid, a career criminal who converted to Islam, attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid

2010 The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Ask,_Don%27t_Tell_Repeal_Act_of_2010

Births

1696 James Edward Oglethorpe (d 1785) British general, member of parliament, philanthropist, and founder of the colony of Georgia in the United States where he arranged to have slavery banned. As a social reformer, he hoped to resettle Britain's poor, especially those in debtors' prisons, in the New World. The banning of slavery also reduced the work force, and this was felt to be a constraint on Georgia's early economic growth. Many settlers thus began to oppose Oglethorpe, regarding him as a misguided and "perpetual dictator". Many new settlers soon set their eyes on South Carolina as a less restrictive and, they hoped, a more profitable place to settle. In 1750, after Oglethorpe had left the colony, the ban on slavery was lifted, and large numbers of slaves were soon imported.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Edward_Oglethorpe

1727 William Ellery (d 1820) signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Rhode Island. In 1764, Ellery joined Stephen Hopkins, Samuel Ward, the Reverend James Manning and several others as an original fellow or trustee for the chartering of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the original name for Brown University).en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ellery

1770 Demetrius Gallitzin Netherlands. He became a priest. Arriving in America in 1792, he spent his remaining years as a frontier missionary, building up the Catholic church in parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. He became known as the "Apostle to the Alleghenies." (d 1840)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demetrius_Gallitzin

1789 Ann Hasseltine Bradford, Massachusetts. Converted at 15, she married Adonirum Judson in 1812, and they shortly afterward sailed for India. Knowing they would work with Baptists, they spent the time during their voyage studying baptism from the Bible, and upon arriving in India withdrew from their supporting mission board and were baptized by immersion. In India they found no welcome and sailed to Burma. While her husband diligently studied the national languages, he was arrested in the war between the British and the Indians, and the latter, not recognizing any difference between the English and Americans, the government of India imprisoned him for 17 months amid terrible conditions. Ann visited him daily, bringing him food and consolation. Their children all died in infancy; her health was broken, and when finally released from prison, Judson found her in a semi-coma. In July 1926, she saw her husband for the last time as he left to face trial. (d 1826) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Hasseltine_Judson

1803 Joseph King Fenno Mansfield (d 1862) career United States Army officer, civil engineer, and a Union general in the American Civil War, mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_K._Mansfield

1832 Edward Hatch (d 1889) career American soldier who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war he became the first commander of the 9th Cavalry Regiment, a Buffalo soldier regiment with African-American troops commanded by white officers.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hatch

1856 Frank Billings Kellogg (d 1937) American lawyer, politician and statesman who served in the U.S. Senate and as the 45th Secretary of State. He co-authored the Kellogg-Briand Pact, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Billings_Kellogg

1862 Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr. (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball player, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds records for wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and games managed (7,755), with his victory total being almost 1,000 more than any other manager. He managed the Philadelphia Athletics for the club's first 50 seasons of play before retiring at age 87 following the 1950 season, and was at least part-owner from 1901 to 1954. He was the first manager to win the World Series three times, and is the only manager to win consecutive Series on separate occasions (1910–11, 1929–30); his five Series titles remain the third most by any manager, and his nine American League pennants rank second in league history. However, constant financial struggles forced repeated rebuilding of the roster, and Mack's teams also finished in last place 17 times. Mack was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_McGillicuddy

1876 Gustav Waldemar Elmen (d 1957) Swedish-American electrical engineer and metallurgist who created Permalloy (1916) and related alloys with high magnetic permeability used in communications equipment. An alloy with this property can be easily magnetized and demagnetized, especially useful for applications in electrical equipment, telephones and other communications systems. He developed the nickel-iron Permalloy in 1916, for Western Electric Company (later Bell Telephone Laboratories). Later, in 1923, Elmen found that magnetic permeability could be dramatically enhanced if Permalloy was heat treated. Its magnetic permeability exceeded that of silicon steel. His discovery made possible deep-sea telegraph cables of large message- carrying capacity.«1885 Deems Taylor American conductor and music critic (d. 1966) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deems_Taylor

1885 Abraham L. "Abe" Manley (d 1952) American sports executive and husband of the first woman inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Effa Manley. He co-owned the Newark Eagles baseball franchise in the Negro Leagues with his wife from 1935 to 1946.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Manley

1903 Haldan Keffer Hartline (d 1983) American physiologist who shared (with George Wald and Ragnar Granit) the 1967 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his analysis of how the sensory cells of the retina of the eye evaluate the light stimulus. In his early career, he studied the metabolism of nerve cells and in time came to research individual cells in the retina of the eye. He used tiny electrodes to isolate individual fibres in the eyes of horseshoe crabs and frogs. He learned how impulse generation in the sensory cells transmits a code in response to illumination of different intensity and duration. He spent almost half a century advancing the understanding of the neurophysiology of vision.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haldan_Keffer_Hartline

1905 Kenneth Rexroth (d 1982) American poet, translator and critical essayist. He was among the first poets in the United States to explore traditional Japanese poetic forms such as haiku. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rexroth

1911 Grote Reber (d 2002) U.S. amateur astronomer and radio engineer who self-financed and built the first radio telescope. He pioneered the new field of radio astronomy, and was the first to systematically study the sky by observing non-visible radiation. After reading about Jansky's discovery (1932) of natural radio emissions from space, Reber constructed a 9-meter dish antenna in his back yard and built three different detectors before finding 160 MHz signals (1939). In 1940 and 1944 he published articles titled Cosmic Static in the Astrophysical Journal. He was the first to express received radio signals in terms of flux density and brightness, first to find evidence that galactic radiation is non-thermal, and first to produce radio maps of the sky (1941). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grote_Reber

1912 Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson (d 2007) First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that her major initiative as First Lady. After leaving the White House in 1969 and her husband's death in 1973, Lady Bird became an entrepreneur, creating the $150 million LBJ Holdings Company, and was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honors.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Alta_%22Lady_Bird%22_Taylor_Johnson

1917 Lewis Hastings Sarett (d 1999) American organic chemist who prepared a synthetic version of the hormone cortisone (1944) using a complicated 36-step process. He was a research scientist (1942-48) at Merck & Co., Inc. Four years later the Mayo Clinic demonstrated the efficacy of the product against rheumatoid arthritis. Cortisone also has wide-ranging applications in the treatment of allergies as well as inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. In 1949, Sarett and several collaborators initiated an alternative synthesis commencing with raw materials derivable from coal, air, lime, and water. This led to the first route independent of naturally occurring starting materials. Sarett was the 1975 recipient of the National Medal of Science.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Hastings_Sarett

1921 Harold Franklin Hawkins (d 1963), better known as Hawkshaw Hawkins, American country music singer popular from the 1950s into the early 60s known for his rich, smooth vocals and music drawn from blues, boogie and honky tonk. At 6 ft 5 inches tall, he had an imposing stage presence, and his tasteful Western suits set him apart from the rhinestone gaudiness of other male country singers. Hawkins died in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and was married to country star Jean Shepard.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Franklin_Hawkins

1922 James Claude Wright, Jr. usually known as Jim Wright, is a former Democratic U.S. Congressman from Texas who served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the Speaker of the House from 1987 to 1989. Forced to resign.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Claude_Wright_Jr.

1922 Jack Bascom Brooks retired Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Texas, who served for more than 40 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was defeated for reelection in the 1994 election. He is the most senior Representative ever to have lost a general election.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Bascom_Brooks

1936 Hector Elizondo, American actor--participated in over eighty films and has made numerous television appearances, including his role on the series Chicago Hope and his most recent main role on the ABC sitcom Last Man Standing.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9ctor_Elizondo

1943 Paul Wolfowitz, American politician, former President of the World Bank, United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He is currently a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, working on issues of international economic development, Africa and public-private partnerships, and chairman of the US-Taiwan Business Councilen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wolfowitz

1944 Steve Carlton, American baseball player, nicknamed "Lefty", is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1965 to 1988 for six different teams in his career, but it is his time with the Philadelphia Phillies where he received his greatest acclaim as a professional and won four Cy Young Awards. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Carlton

1945 Diane Sawyer, American journalist. Sawyer has been the anchor of ABC News's nightly flagship program ABC World News, a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news program Good Morning America and Primetime newsmagazine. Early in her career, she was a member of U.S. President Richard Nixon's White House staff and closely associated with the president himself.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Sawyer

1948 Steve Garvey, American baseball player. American former professional baseball player and current Southern California businessman.[1] He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman, most notably for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nicknamed "Mr. Clean" because of the wholesome image he portrayed throughout his career in baseball, Garvey was the 1974 National League Most Valuable Player Award winner, a ten-time All-Star, and holds the National League record for consecutive games played (1,207). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Garvey

1668 Stephen Day (b c 1594) English locksmith who established the first printing press in England's North American colonies. In 1638, Rev. Jose Glover pursuaded Day to sail with him from England to British North America with a printing press to produce religious texts. Day's son Matthew was a printer's apprentice. Although Glover died en-route, the press was set up at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. The Days printed a broadside and an almanac in their first year. In 1639, it is believed that Stephen Day produced his first work, The Freeman's Oath. The next year, the first book to be printed in North America was 1,700 copies of the Bay Psalm Book. In 1649, Matthew died, and officials of Harvard College appointed Samuel Green to operate the Cambridge Pressen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Day_(printer)

1806 William Vernon (d 1719), of Newport, Rhode Island, New England trader who played a leading role in the Continental Congress' maritime activities during the American Revolution. As president of the Eastern Navy Board during the Revolution, he was responsible for building and outfitting the ships of the Continental Navy.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Vernon

1863 Michael Corcoran (b 1827) Irish American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a close confidant of President Abraham Lincoln. As its colonel, he led the 69th New York regiment to Washington, D.C. and was one of the first to serve in the defense of Washington by building Fort Corcoran. He then led the 69th into action at the First Battle of Bull Run. After promotion to brigadier general, he left the 69th and formed the Corcoran Legion, consisting of at least five other New York regiments.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Corcoran

1887 Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden (b 1829) American geologist and explorer of the U.S. West. After finishing a medical school training (1853), his early career began in paleontology for James Hall, collecting fossils in the Badlands and the Upper Missouri Valley. It is believed he made the first North American discovery of dinosaur remains (1854) during this expedition. During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon in the Civil War, after which he resumed his western explorations. His work in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains helped lay the foundation of the U.S. Geological Survey. Hayden is credited with having the Yellowstone geyser area declared the first national park (1872). He hosted the Western botanical journey of Gray and Hooker in 1877.« en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Vandiveer_Hayden

1899 Dwight Lyman Moody (b 1837), also known as D.L. Moody, American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts (now Northfield Mount Hermon School), the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Lyman_Moody

1939 Ma Rainey (b 1886) one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Rainey

1940 Nathanael West (born Nathan von Wallenstein Weinstein)(b 1903) was a US author, screenwriter and satirist. Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) A Cool Million (1934) The Day of the Locust (1939) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathanael_West

1942 Franz Boas (b 1858) German-born American anthropologist who is best known for his work with the Kwakiutl Indians from Northern Vancouver, B.C., Canada. While studying the Kwakiutl, he established a culture-centred school of thought in anthropology that came to the forefront in the 20th century. He maintained that cultural traits - behaviors, beliefs, and symbols - were to be examined in their local context with historical, social and geographic conditions. The approach he established was continued by his students, which included Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, linguist Edward Sapir and Alfred L. Kroeber, who in turn influenced Claude Lévi-Strauss. Boaz has been called the "Father of American Anthropology".en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Boas

1959 Gilda Gray (b 1901) (Marianna Michalska) Polish born American actress and dancer who became famous in the US for popularizing a dance called the "shimmy" which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilda_Gray

1974 Thomas Sterling North (b 1906) American author of books for children and adults, including 1963's bestselling Rascal. North, who professionally went by "Sterling North", was born on the second floor of a farmhouse on the shores of Lake Koshkonong, a few miles from Edgerton, Wisconsin, in 1906, and died in Morristown, New Jersey in 1974. Surviving a near-paralyzing struggle with polio in his teens, he grew to young adulthood in the quiet southern Wisconsin village of Edgerton, which North transformed into the "Brailsford Junction" setting of several of his books.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_North

1979 Darryl Francis Zanuck (b 1902) American producer, writer, actor, director, and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors (the length of his career being rivalled only by that of Adolph Zukor).en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Francis_Zanuck

1995 Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen (b 1911) American actress. Originally a dancer, the 28-year-old McQueen appeared as Prissy, Scarlett O'Hara's maid in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_McQueen

2003 Dave Dudley (b 1928) American country music singer,who was best-known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s, and his semi-slurred baritone. His signature song was "Six Days on the Road," and he is also remembered for "Vietnam Blues," "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun," and "Me and ol' C.B.". Other recordings included Dudley's duet with Tom T. Hall, "Day Drinking," and his own Top 10 hit, "Fireball Rolled A Seven," supposedly based on the career and death of Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Dudley

2003 John Holter (b 1916) American inventor of a pioneering valve used in the treatment of hydrocephalus ("water on the brain"). Shortly after birth (1955), his son suffered from hydrocephalus. Holter learned from surgeons Eugene Spitz and Frank Nulsen that a suitable valve to drain fluid from the brain could maintain normal cranial pressure. To save his son, Holter invented a pressure-sealing valve made from silicone to avoid clogging problems. He subsequently refined and patented the device. Spitz and Holter set up a company to manufacture the shunts using Silastic silicone. The Spitz-Holter valve has helped millions around the world since the late 1950s. Holter later created other medical devices, including dialysis pumps, artificial heart valves and finger tendons.«en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holter

Great Martyr Anastasia the Roman (Anastasia of Sirmium), Deliverer from Bonds, and her teacher Martyr Chrysogonus, and with them the Martyrs Theodota, Evodius, Eutychianus, and others, who suffered under Diocletian (304)

Hieromartyr Zoilus, Priest, under Diocletian (304)

Pre-Schism Western Saints

Martyrs Demetrius, Honoratus and Florus, in Ostia in Italy.

Thirty Holy Martyrs of Rome (ca.303)

Saint Flavian, an ex-prefect of Rome (362)

Saint Hunger of Utrecht (Hungerus Frisus), Bishop of Utrecht in Holland from 856; during the Norman invasion he fled to Prüm in Germany where he died (866)

Saint Amaswinthus of Málaga, monk and Abbot for forty-two years at a monastery in Silva de Málaga in Spain (982)

Post-Schism Orthodox Saints

New Martyrs and Confessors

New Hieromartyrs Demetrius and Theodore, Priests (1938)

Other Commemorations

Commemoration of the Thyranoixia (consecration) of the "Great Church of Christ", the Hagia Sophia.

Repose of Monk Dositheus, hermit of the Roslavl Forests and Optina Monastery (1828)